Implement for opening cigar-boxes.



No. 695,672. Patented Mar.A l8.|902.

F. n. DIAZ. y IMPLEMENT FUR UPENING CIGAR BXES'l (Application Bled Mar.l2, 1901.) (No'Model.)

, l by l A Hl 5= ATTDRNEY.

Nrrnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FRANCISCO R. DIAZ, OF TAMPA, FLORIDA.

ilv'lPLElVl ENT FOR OPENING ClGAR-BOXES.

DFECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,672, dated March18, 1902 Application tiled March 12,1901. Serial No. 50,802. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANCISCO R. DIAZ, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Tampa, in the county of Hillsboro and State ofFlorida, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Implementsfor Opening Cigar-Boxes, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to a combination-tool for opening cigar-boxes.

When cigars have been packed in a box and the lid has been closed, it iscustomary to secure the latter by narrow strips of papel' pasted alongthe upper edges of the sides of the box and turned over, down, andpasted along the edges ofthe lid or cover, and it is also usual,further, to secure the lid by means of a small nail which is driventhrough the lid at its forward edge and at aboutthe middleof its lengthand into the upper edge of the front side of the box. It is alsocustomary to paste `ornamental or other paper labels on one or moresides of the box and have portions thereof extended over and pasted uponthe top surface of thelid. Besides this it is usual to paste therevenue-stamps transversely of the box and the lid in sucha manner thatthey, as well as the paper edgings and labels, must be cut or broken inthe operation of opening the lid. Furthermore, it is largely thepractice to paste on the inner side of the lid a highly ornamental labeland also to attach to the upper edge of the front side ofthe box anornamental paper flap, which extends to the rear side of the box andcovers the top layer of'cigars.' Cigar-box knives have heretofore beenelnployed for opening the lids; but as these have been constructed theyhave proved more or less unsatisfactory-Just, because of the absence ofany meansfor determining exactly where the cuts are to be made in theedging papers or binders which bridge and hide the edges of the lidWhere they abut or join the sides of the box and at which bridgingportions the said papers m ust be cut, and in consequence it is veryoften necessary to make several attempts or cuts before the joint isfound, and in doing so the wood is frequently chipped or broken and thefingers sometimes cut.

plement whereby the box can be neatly and quickly opened and one bywhich all liability of breaking the cigars or marring or defacing theinside ornamental flaps and labels is wholly avoided.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a perspective view of myimproved implement, showing it in one position of use and a cornerportion of the cigar-box being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is afragmentary view of a modification. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary Viewvshowing the tool in another-position of use, the lower end of the toolbeing shown in cross-section. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing thetool in still another position of use.

In the several views similar parts are designated by similar numerals ofreference.

The tool comprises an elongated metallic cylindrical handle l, having atone end. an enlargedl and flattened head 2 and at its other end a thinwedge-like linger or chisel 3, in one side edge of which is formed anotch 4. Between the chisel and the handle is a thickened quadrilateralportion 5,forming a jog or shoulder 6. A smallknife or cutter-blade 7projects slightly below the surface ofthe shoulder 6 on the side of thehandle opposite the chisel 3, and the space between the cutter and thechisel or the width of the shoulder is substantially equal to thethicknessof the wood of which cigar-boxes are usually made.

The portion-2 of theimplement constitutes a hammer-head, the chisel-likepart a lidlifter, the portion 7 a cutter-blade for severing the paper atthe joints of the lid and box, and the part 6 an abutment or means forlimiting the insertion of the blade 7 and also of the lid-lifter.

In opening a box the edge of the projecting cutter 7 is pressed downbetween the side edge of the box-lid S and the top edge of the side 9 ofthe box, as at Fig. 1, thus puncturing the paper strip l0, the tooldescending until the shoulder 6 contacts with the top edge of the sideof the box. Then 4without changing the vertical position ofthe tool thelatter is drawn along the end of the box and the blade 7 is caused toslit the paper strip l0 for the full length of the joint, as indicatedat 11. It will be seen that the shoulder 6 affords a support for thedownward pressure exerted upon the tool in order to hold the knife downto its work and that as the knife preferably projects below the shouldera trilie less than the thickness of the lid it can only penetrate farenough to cut the paper, thus avoiding all liability of injuring theornamental iap'which covers the cigars or the cigars themselves. Theoperation of cutting is then repeated at the other end of the box, andthen the tool is placed in a horizontal position, as at Fig. 3, and theblade 7 pressed through the paper strip 12, which is pasted over thefront top corner of the box, the blade penetrating between the lid andthe top edge of the front sideof the box. The tool is then drawn alongthe front edge of the lid, thereby slitting the strip 12 and completingthe cutting operations. Then the point of the projecting chisel 3 isintroduced betweenv the lid and the top edge of the front side of thebox, and by working the tool the lid is pricd up slightly, asindicatedas Fig. a, thus drawing the usual lid-fastening nail or brad 13 slightlyupward. Then the lid may be hammered down by the head 2 of the tooluntil said lid is in its original position, thus leaving the head of thebrad standing a little above the lid. Then the shank of the brad may becaught in the notch Il of the chisel and the brad drawn out, whereuponthe lid may be lifted. When the box has become empty or at any otherdesired time, the tool may be used again as a hammer for driving in thebrad 13, so as to resecure the lid.

In the modification shown at Fig. 2 the cutter 7 is in the form of athin plate, which is secured upon the thick portion 5 of the tool by oneor more rivets 1st.

In the operations of cutting the paper at the joints the fiatchisel-like portion 3 serves as a guide for the insertion of the cutter.The distance across between the edge of the cutter and inner face of thechisel being equal to the thickness of the wood of which the box iscomposed or substantially equal it will be seen that when the portion 3is laid fiat against either the end or the lid of the box the cuttingedge of the knife is caused to coincide with the joint to be slit, andhence the proper line is located at once, thus eecting a saving in timeand avoiding several of the objections hereinbefore alluded to. iMoreover, the part 3 if kept pressed against the sides operates as aflange to maintain the cutter in true working position during thecutting movement of the tool. Thus it will be seen that by means of aninexpensively-manufactured and conveniently-used tool the box may beexpeditiously and neatly opened without possibility of injuring itscontents or mutilating the ornamental flap which covers the cigars ormarring the wood of the box and without danger of cutting the fingers.

The entire tool is preferably made of a single piece of steel, as shownat Figs. 1 and 3;

but this is not essential, and various other changes maybe made withoutdeparting from the gist of myimprovements as defined in the followingclaims.

lVhat l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising a handle, a paper-cuttingblade, a Iiange opposite thereto serving as a guide to cause the bladeto coincide with the joint to be slit, and means for limiting theinsertion of the paper-cutting blade.

2. A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising a handle, a paper-cuttingblade, a lateral shoulder above the cutting edge of the blade, and aflange parallel with the paper-cutting blade.

A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising a handle, means for pryingopen the lid, extending beyond the handle on one side, and a projectingcutting-blade on the opposite side of said handle parallel with saidmeans for prying' open the lid but of less length than the same.

4. A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising the handle 1, the chisel 3extending longitudinally thereof, the paper-cutting blade 7 parallelwith said chisel, and the shoulder 6 intermediate the chisel and thepaper-cutting blade.

5. A tool for opening cigar-boxes, comprising a handle having at one endboth means for slitting the paper and means for prying the box-lid open,both said means extending longitudinally of the handle and arranged onopposite sides thereof, and the slitting means being arranged back ofthe means for prying open the lid.

6. A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising a handle, a chisel forraising the lid, a separate paper-cutting blade, and means forpreventing the cutting edge of the latter from entering the interior ofthe box.

7. A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising a handle, a chisel forraising the lid, and a separate paper-cutting blade of less length thanthe thickness of the wood of the box.

8. A tool for opening cigar-boxes comprising a handle, a paper-cuttingblade of less length than the thickness of the Wood of the box, andmeans for mechanically determining the covered joints where the cuts areto bc made in the edging papers or binders.

9. A tool for opening cigar-boxes, comprising a handle having at one enda quadrilateral portion 5, from one side of which projects a cutter 7and from the opposite side of which projects a chisel 3.

Signed at Tampa, in the county of Hillsboro and State of Florida, this5th day of March, A. D. 1901.

FRANCISCO R. DIAZ.

Vitnesses:

S. H. Roenes, Jr., E. l". GUNBY.

ICO

IIC

